Combined Hair Removal Device

ABSTRACT

The present invention is concerned with a combined hair removal device that comprises a electrical hair removal device having at least a first coupling structure, a wet shaving device having at least a second coupling structure, the first and second coupling structures being configured to mate with each other to detachably couple the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device in at least a first coupling position, the electrical hair removal device having an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the electrical hair removal device in a detached state, and the wet shaving device having an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the wet shaving device in a detached state, wherein the wet shaving device comprises a wet shaving head that has at least a blade having a sharp, elongated edge arranged for contacting the skin during a shaving operation so as to cut off hairs growing on the skin.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of prior co-pending International Application No. PCT/EP2009/004822 filed Jul. 3, 2009, designating the United States.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with combined hair removal devices that comprise an electrical hair removal device and a wet shaving device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

International patent application WO 2007/130680 A1 discloses a modular grooming tool that comprises a razor assembly coupled to a first end of a hand-piece for holding the tool such that the razor assembly is removable, and a nose/ear hair trimmer coupled to the first end of the hand-piece. The nose/ear hair trimmer is configured to couple with the razor assembly to nest within the razor assembly while the razor assembly is coupled to the first end of the hand-piece.

It is a disadvantage of this modular grooming tool that the nose/ear hair trimmer is covered by the razor assembly when the razor assembly is coupled to the first end of the hand-piece.

International patent application WO 2005/102623 A2 discloses a wet razor and electric trimmer assembly. The razor blade is disposed at or adjacent a first end of the handle. The trimmer mounts on the handle and includes a moving blade. The motor drives the moving blade.

It is a disadvantage of such an assembly that a heavy motor needs always to be present in the assembly to drive the electric trimmer when it shall be used.

International patent application WO 2007/081850 A2 discloses a multi-use shaving implement that includes an elongated handle and swappable razor cartridge and trimmer head. The elongated handle has a powered motor that is at least partially located therein. A user is enabled to removably attach the razor cartridge to the handle and the user is also enabled to removably attach the trimmer head to the handle when the razor cartridge is not attached to the handle.

It is a disadvantage of such a shaving implement that the motor is at least partially present in the elongated handle also when the shaving implement is used with the razor cartridge attached to the handle. It is a further disadvantage that one of the heads is always detached from the handle and may get lost in the bathroom due to its small size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It would therefore be desirable to provide a combined hair removal device that is improved over the known devices.

A combined hair removal device as proposed comprises an electrical hair removal device that has at least a first coupling structure and a wet shaving device that has at least a second coupling structure, the first and second coupling structures being configured to mate which each other to detachably couple the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device together. The electrical hair removal device has an elongated handle provide for individual use of the electrical hair removal device in a detached state. The wet shaving device has an elongated handle provided for individual use of the wet shaving device in a detached state. As the elongated handles are long enough for conveniently holding each of the devices in a user's hand, the combined hair removal device can be used in its combined state and the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device can also be used individually, which is not possible for the devices as known from prior art. This increases the versatility of such a combined device.

In the combined hair removal device as proposed, the electrical hair removal device may be realized as an electrical shaving device or an epilator device, and the wet shaving device comprises a wet shaving head that has at least a blade having a sharp elongated edge arranged for contacting the skin during a shaving operation so as to cut off hairs growing on the skin.

The electrical hair removal device realized as an electrical shaving device may e.g. comprise a trimmer head having a first and a second toothed blade, where at least one of the first and second blades is arranged to be driven in an operation mode so that the trimmer head cuts off (i.e. sheers off) hairs that feed in between the teeth of the first and second toothed blades. In another embodiment, the electrical shaving device may comprise a shaver head having a sheer foil structure arranged to contact the skin and a blade structure that is arranged to be movable relative to the sheer foil in an operation mode so that hairs that feed in between holes of the sheer foil structure are cut off or sheered off. In particular, the electrical shaving device may be realized as an electrical trimmer comprising the electrical trimmer head or as an electrical sheer-foil shaver comprising the sheer foil structure and the blade structure. The electrical shaving device may be arranged for hair removal in a dry and/or a wet environment as is generally known in the art.

The electrical hair removal device may also be realized as an epilator device that may comprise a plurality of pairs of clamping elements that are each arranged for actuation during an operation mode between an open position in which hairs can feed into a gap present between the pair of clamping elements and an closed position in which hairs are clamped by the pair of clamping elements.

In an embodiment, the elongated handles of the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device extend longitudinally (in the direction of their elongated extension) side by side over a substantial part of their length, where this should include that one elongated handle is partially embraced by the other elongated handle. In a refinement of this embodiment, one of the elongated handles has a longitudinally extending recess in which at least part of the other elongated handle is located. The side-by-side extending or partially embraced or nested elongated handles thus form a combined handle of the combined hair removal device

In another embodiment, at least one of the coupling structures has at least two or more coupling elements allowing for coupling the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device in at least two or more coupling positions. In another embodiment, at least one of the first and second coupling structures comprises a movable element for selectively moving the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device relatively to each other, which also allows for having several coupling positions.

In yet another embodiment, at least one of the first or second coupling structures has at least a release element for releasing the mated first and second coupling structures.

In a further embodiment, the combined hair removal device has a contact arrangement enabling the transfer of electrical energy between the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device in the coupled state. This allows discarding a battery in one of the devices and allows energizing both devices in a coupled state.

In an even further embodiment, the electrical hair removal device is provided with a vibration motor and the combined shaving device has a mechanical coupling to transmit vibrations generated by the vibration motor to the wet shaving head of the wet shaving device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be further elucidated by detailed explanation of several exemplary embodiments and by reference to figures. In the figures

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view onto an exemplary combined hair removal device as proposed that comprises an electrical hair removal device and a wet shaving device that are coupled together in a first coupling position,

FIG. 2A is a schematic side view onto an electrical hair removal device that can be individually used and that can be coupled to a wet shaving device to form the combined hair removal device as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 2B is a schematic side view onto a wet shaving device that can be individually used and that can be coupled to an electrical hair removal device to form the combined shaving device as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view through the combined hair removal device as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side view onto the combined hair removal device as depicted in FIG. 1 but where the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device are coupled together in a second coupling position,

FIG. 5A is a perspective view onto aback side of the electrical hair removal device as shown in FIG. 2A to visualize an exemplary first coupling structure,

FIG. 5B is a perspective view onto a front side of the wet shaving device as shown in FIG. 2B to visualize an exemplary second coupling structure,

FIG. 6A is a view onto the front of another exemplary wet shaving device as proposed,

FIG. 6B is a view onto the back side of the wet shaving device as shown in FIG. 6A,

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional cut through the wet shaving device as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B along the line A-A as indicated in FIG. 6A, and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view onto a further exemplary combined hair removal device as proposed, where a wet shaving device is clamped onto a electrical hair removal device realized as an epilator device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an exemplary embodiment of a combined hair removal device 1 as proposed. The combined hair removal device 1 comprises an electrical hair removal device 100 and a wet shaving device 200. The electrical hair removal device 100 is designed as an electrical shaving device in the form of an electrical trimmer having an electrical hair removal head 120 realized as a trimmer head. The wet shaving device 200 has a wet shaving head 220 (here: a safety razor head). The electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 are detachably coupled to each other in a first coupling position. The details of the coupling will be discussed further below.

The electrical hair removal device 100 has an elongated handle 110 and the wet shaving device 200 has an elongated handle 210. The elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 form together an integrated elongated handle 101 of the combined hair removal device 1. The integrated elongated handle 101 of the combined hair removal device 1 is designed for holding the combined hair removal device 1 in a hand of a user during operation of the combined hair removal device 1. In particular, the elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 are individually shaped in such a way that the combined handle 101 of the combined hair removal device 1 allows for easy and safe handling of the combined hair removal device 1. The integrated elongated handle 101 can be designed to allow for a convenient use of the combined hair removal device 1, i.e. the outer surface of the combined elongated handle 101 can be designed to be smooth and/or conveniently lying in a user's hand. Such convenient use is, e.g., affected through an integrated elongated handle 101 that is essentially seamless at the edges where the elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 abut each other. In such a realization, it is sufficient that the seamlessness is achieved only in those outer surface areas of the combined elongated handle 101 that are intended for being held in a user's hand. The convenient use can, e.g., be achieved by a design of the combined elongated handle 101 that anatomically fits into a user's hand. The elongated handles 110 and 210 of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200, respectively, are provided so that they can be held in a user hand during individual operation of the electrical hair removal device 100 or the wet shaving device 200 in a detached state. A typical length for an elongated handle that is provided for individual use is about 8 cm or longer, in particular 10 cm or longer or even more particularly 12 cm or longer, where specifically the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 is longer than the elongated handle 110 of the electrical shaving device 100.

The electrical hair removal device 100 has an electrical hair removal head 120 in the form of an electric trimmer head and the wet shaving device 200 has a wet shaving head 220 realized as a safety razor cartridge in which a plurality of sharp, elongated razor blades are mounted (obviously, it is not affecting the present invention whether the wet shaving head 220 comprises only a single sharp, elongated razor blade or two of such blades or any other number of blades). Each of the heads is intended to cut-off or sheer-off hairs that grow on the skin during shaving operation. Instead of being realized as an electrical trimmer, the electrical hair removal device 100 may also be realized as an electrical sheer-foil shaver having an electrical hair removal head realized as an electrical shaving head having a sheer foil structure intended for contacting the skin during regular operation and a blade structure (i.e. an undercutter blade) arranged to be movable relative to the sheer foil. In an even further embodiment, the electrical hair removal device 100 may be realized as an epilator device, which will be discussed in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7, and 8 for a further exemplary embodiment.

In the shown embodiment, the wet shaving device 200 is detachably coupled to the back of the electrical hair removal device 100. In another embodiment, a combined hair removal device comprises a wet shaving device that is detachably coupled to the front of an electrical hair removal device. In an even other embodiment, the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device are coupled back-to-back.

FIG. 2A is a side view onto the electrical hair removal device 100 that is designed as an electrical trimmer as is shown also in FIG. 1. The electrical hair removal device 100 is shown in a detached state. The electrical hair removal device 100 has an elongated handle 110 that is designed for an individual use of the electrical hair removal device 100 in its detached state. The elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 is specifically designed to be conveniently held in the hand of a user during hair removal operation. The electrical hair removal device 100 designed as an electrical shaving device in the form of an electrical trimmer has an electrical hair removal head 120 in the form of an electrical trimmer head and a motor (not visible) for driving the movable components of the electrical hair removal head 120. It may also be equipped with a battery provided in a battery compartment for powering the motor independently from a connection to mains voltage and additionally or equivalently the electrical hair removal device 100 is equipped with a socket for connecting the electrical hair removal device 100 to mains voltage with a respective cable. The electrical hair removal head 120 may be detachably mounted to the elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 such that the electrical hair removal head 120 can be cleaned independently from the elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100 or so that the electrical hair removal head 120 can be replaced by another electrical hair removal head (e.g. in case the electrical hair removal head 120 is an electrical trimmer head as shown, the different electrical hair removal heads can be electrical trimmer heads that have different cutting widths or differently styled trimmer blades). The motor of the electrical hair removal device 100 can then fully be located in the elongated handle 110 or the motor can partially or fully be located in the electrical hairremoval heads, such that matched motor components or a matched motor can be provided in each of a plurality of replaceable electrical hair removal heads.

FIG. 2B is a side view onto a wet shaving device 200 that is designed in the form of a safety razor as is shown also in FIG. 1. The wet shaving device 200 is shown in a detached state. The wet shaving device 200 has an elongated handle 210 that is designed for an individual use of the wet shaving device 200 in its detached state. The elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 is specifically designed to be conveniently held in the hand of a user during shaving operation. The wet shaving device 200 has a wet shaving head 220 in the form of a safety razor cartridge and may comprise a vibration motor arranged for exciting vibrations of at least an elongated sharp razor blade provided at the wet shaving head. The wet shaving head 220 comprises at least one elongated sharp razor blade that is intended to contact the skin during shaving operation to cut hairs growing on the skin. The wet shaving head 220 can also comprise two or more such elongated sharp razor blades as is generally known in the art. The razor blade or razor blades may e.g. be mounted in a razor cartridge, which razor cartridge can be detachably mounted at the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 as is as such known in the art. Additionally, the wet shaving device 200 can comprise a battery compartment in which a battery can be provided for powering the vibration motor. Instead of having an arrangement for being powered by a battery provided in a battery compartment of the elongated handle 210 of the wet shaving device 200 or alternatively to such an arrangement, the wet shaving device 200 can have a contact arrangement provided for contacting a respective contact arrangement provided at the electrical hair removal device 100 so that energy transfer between the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 in an attached state is enabled (this is also discussed with reference to FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional cut through the combined hair removal device 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The electrical hair removal device 100 is designed as an electrical trimmer. The wet shaving device 200 is designed as a safety razor.

The electrical hair removal device 100 comprises an elongated handle 110 and an electrical hair removal head 120 realized as an electric trimmer head. A motor 150 is located inside the elongated handle 110 of the electrical hair removal device 100, which motor 150 can be selectively powered via a battery 160 provided in a battery compartment 161. The electrical hair removal device 100 is equipped with a selector 170 realized as a capacitive switch for selectively activating the electrical trimmer head. Instead of a capacitive switch any other kind of switch, e.g. a rotatable knob having various lock positions for switching the electrical trimmer on or off and/or for e.g. setting various speeds of the movable trimmer blade is also possible. As is known in the art, the motor 150 drives a motor shaft 151 having an eccentric tappet, which tappet mates with a slot of a carrier to translate the rotational movement of the eccentric tappet into a linear oscillating movement of the carrier during operation. A moveable (first) toothed trimmer blade 121 is mounted to the carrier and interacts with a fixedly mounted (second) toothed trimmer blade so that hairs that feed in between the teeth of the trimmer blades are cut-off or shorn-off, respectively, depending on the concrete realization of the blade edges.

The wet shaving device 200 comprises an elongated handle 210 and a wet shaving head 220 realized as a detachably mounted razor cartridge that carries a plurality of sharp, elongated razor blades 221.

As is schematically shown in FIG. 3, the electrical hair removal device 100 has a first coupling structure 140 that detachably connects with a second coupling structure 240 provided at the wet shaving device 200 so that the combined hair removal device 1 is formed. The first and second coupling structures 140, 240 are arranged to fixedly couple the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 during shaving operation of the combined hair removal device 1. In an embodiment, the first and second coupling structures 140 and 240 are realized as connectable parts of a snap-fit coupling, where the first coupling structure 140 may be a positive coupling partner and the second coupling structure 240 may be a negative cou pling partner designed to snap-fit onto the positive coupling partner. The snap-fit coupling may be realized as being flexible enough to release the first and second coupling structures 140 and 240 from each other by applying a certain release force above a threshold value that does not occur in regular hair removal operation. The snap-fit coupling may also be provided with an additional release mechanism as is schematically shown in FIG. 3, where a release element 241 is part of the second coupling structure 240. The release element 241 can be depressed in a direction B to act on a spring-tensioned element such as an engagement hook so that the engagement hook is moved against the spring tension so that the first and the second coupling structures 140, 240 can be separated without applying any additional force. In another embodiment, the first coupling structure 140 is realized as a threaded hole and the second coupling structure 240 as a corresponding threaded screw that can be turned via a knob provided at the wet shaving device 200. Any other kind of coupling is also possible, such as couplings utilizing a detent lever, detent spring, a bayonet coupling, a spring loaded ball detent etc.

Obviously, it is irrelevant whether the electrical hair removal device 100 has e.g. a positive coupling partner and the wet shaving device 200 has a negative coupling partner etc., but such coupling structures could also be provided the other way around (negative coupling partner realized at electrical hair removal device 100 and positive coupling partner realized at the wet shaving device 200) as long as the first coupling structure 140 and the second coupling structure 240 detachably connect the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200. The first and second coupling structures 140 and 240 are usually located at a circumferential position on the elongated handles so that the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 are coupled side by side.

In one embodiment, the electrical hair removal device has a recess that extends along the longitudinal axis of the electrical hair removal device, which recess is designed to receive at least a part of the elongated handle of the wet shaving device. The recess could be realized with an undercut so that at least a part of the elongated handle of the wet shaving device can snap-fit into the recess. Obviously, such a longitudinally extending recess can also be provided in the elongated handle of the wet shaving device (as will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7, and 8).

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 have a contact arrangement 190, 290 of contacts 190 arranged at the electrical hair removal device 100 and contacts 290 arranged at the wet shaving device 200 that conductively couple together in at least a first coupling position ( ) one embodiment, contacts 190 or contacts 290 may be elongated so that conductive coupling is achieved e.g. in at least two different, longitudinally displaced coupling positions). The contact arrangement 190, 290 is designed to enable transfer of electrical energy between the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200. In the shown embodiment, energy is transferred from the battery 160 provided in the electrical hair removal device 100 to a vibration motor 280 mounted in the wet shaving device 200 for exciting a vibration of the razor blades. In another embodiment, a vibration motor is provided in the electrical hair removal device 100 and a mechanical coupling between the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 enables transmission of the vibrations generated by the vibration motor to the wet shaving device 200. In such an embodiment, the hair removal head 220 of the wet shaving device 200 may be arranged close to the mechanical coupling.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a combined hair removal device 1 similar to the combined hair removal device shown in FIG. 1. The electrical hair removal device 100 and the net shaving device 200 are coupled together in different geometrical relationship as in FIG. 1. The coupling position shown in FIG. 4 may be the only coupling position. Alternatively, the first coupling structure and or the second coupling structure provided at the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200, respectively, may allow for coupling the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 together in two or even more coupling positions. If the second coupling structure is realized as a threaded screw, then the first coupling structure could comprise two or even more threaded holes for detachably connecting the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 in two or even more coupling positions. Alternatively, the first coupling structure may comprise a threaded hole that is provided in a movable element being part of the first coupling structure, which movable element can e.g. be slid or pivoted into two or even more locked positions. The realization of the coupling structures will be discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view onto the back side of the electrical hair removal device 100 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2A, 3, and 4. The first coupling structure 140 is schematically indicated. In the shown exemplary embodiment, the first coupling structure 140 comprises three coupling elements 141, 142, 143 for coupling the wet shaving device to the electrical hair removal device 100 in three different coupling positions. The first coupling position may be the coupling position as shown in FIG. 4, which allows a simultaneous usage of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device as the hair removal heads of the electrical hair removal device 100 and the wet shaving device 200 are aligned so that hairs growing on the skin can be removed in a single stroke. In an embodiment with an electrical trimmer as electrical hair removal device and a safety razor as wet shaving device, the hairs are first cut-off (or shorn-off) by the electrical trimmer head of the electrical trimmer and then are cut-off by the wet shaving head of the safety razor, so that a complete hair removal result can be achieved in one single stroke. A second coupling position may be a position as shown in FIG. 1, where the wet shaving device is in a storage position in which the hair removal head of the wet shaving device is covered by the electrical hair removal device in such a way that any direct contact between the fingers of a user and any sharp blades of the hair removal head of the wet shaving device is effectively avoided. In this second coupling position, the electrical hair removal device can be used alone. A third coupling position may be a position in which the hair removal head of the wet shaving device projects above the hair removal head of the electrical hair removal device. In this third coupling position, only the wet shaving device will be used.

The first coupling structure 140 also comprises a movable element 145 that is provided for selective motion on the back of the electrical hair removal device 100. In one embodiment, the first coupling structure 140 comprises only one coupling element 141 that is arranged on the movable element 145, but several coupling positions of the combined shaving device are achieved by a selective movement of the movable element 145 relative to the electrical hair removal device. The movable element 145 may be provided with several lock-in positions that are achieved e.g. via a spring-loaded ball detent having a registration feature.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view onto the front side of the wet shaving device 200 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2B, 3, and 4. The second coupling structure 240 is schematically indicated. In this exemplary embodiment, the second coupling structure 240 comprises only one coupling element that is arranged to couple with any one of the three coupling elements of the electrical hair removal device as shown in FIG. 5A so that the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device 200 can be connected in any one of three mentioned coupling positions.

It is to be noted that all the various features as described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 3, 4, 5A, and 5B are not to be construed as if they would be restricted to an embodiment with an electrical trimmer as electrical hair removal device. Similar embodiments are possible where the electrical hair removal device is an electrical shaver device having a sheer foil structure intended for contacting the skin or where the electrical hair removal device is an epilator device.

In the following, a further exemplary embodiment is discussed, in which the electrical hair removal device is realized as an epilator device and the wet shaving device is again realized as a safety razor. In this exemplary embodiment, the wet shaving device has an elongated handle that envelopes the elongated handle of the epilator device.

FIG. 6A is a view onto the front of an exemplary wet shaving device 10 realized as a safety razor. The wet shaving device 10 has an elongated handle 11 that is intended to be detachably slipped over an elongated handle of a electrical hair removal device so as to form a combined hair removal device as proposed (FIG. 8 shows the resulting combined hair removal device 1′). In the attached state, the elongated handle 11 envelopes at least a part of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device as is shown in FIG. 8. The wet shaving device 10 therefore comprises an elongated handle 11 that in the shown embodiment will be clamped around the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. Insofar, the wet shaving device 10 does not require any modification of an available electrical hair removal device. A user can simply slip the net shaving device 10 over the electrical hair removal device as one would slip a shoe over a foot. The wet shaving device 10 further comprises a wet shaving head 15 that in the shown embodiment is realized as a safety razor cartridge that comprises a razor blade block 16 in which several sharp, elongated razor blades 17 are mounted as is generally known from a safety razor such as the Gillette Venus® Embrace. The wet shaving head 15 as shown may further comprise a lubrication strip and/or massaging lamellae as is generally known from wet shaving cartridges.

The elongated handle 11 is preformed so as to tightly fit around the elongated handle (i.e. the body) of the electrical hair removal device for which it is intended. The elongated handle 11 has an inner side 12 that is shaped to accommodate the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. The elongated handle structure 11 has flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c that will be clamped around the body of the electrical hair removal device. In the shown example, the flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c extend on three sides of the handle structure 11 (namely left side, right side and bottom side with reference to the paper direction). The flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c are bent inwards so as to partially embrace the hollow space formed by the concave inner side 12 of the elongated handle 11 so that the elongated handle 11 can be clamped around three sides of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device (as is shown in FIG. 8). Instead of three sides, the elongated handle 11 may have only two flexed parts 11 a and 11 b and the elongated handle 11 would then only be clamped around two sides of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. In another embodiment, the elongated handle 11 may have further flexed parts at the top, e.g. short flexed straps left and right of the hair removal head 15 that will be clamped around a head part of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. At least the flexed parts 11 a and 11 b are preformed such that they are bent slightly outwards when the elongated handle 11 is slipped over the elongated handle of the wet shaving device. Due to clamping forces applied via the bent flexed parts 11 a and 11 b (and optionally 11 c) the wet shaving device 10 is fixedly connected with the electrical hair removal device and hence the flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c form the second coupling structure. By a specific choice of the material of the elongated handle structure and/or a coating of the inner surface 12 a of the elongated handle 11 and/or a certain roughness of the inner surface 12 a of the elongated handle 11, the fixation can be enhanced due to adhesion and friction resistance between the inner surface 12 a of the handle structure 11 and the outer surface of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. In this embodiment, the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device itself forms the first coupling structure as it provides the form-fit counterpart for the flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c.

FIG. 6B is a view onto the back of the wet shaving device 10 as depicted in FIG. 6A. The elongated handle 11 comprises a release mechanism 14 as is known from safety razors to release the wet shaving head 15 from a clamp structure that holds the wet shaving head 15. Obviously, the shown release mechanism 14 is just one exemplary embodiment of a release mechanism that could be employed. The wet shaving head 15 may also be floatingly mounted to the elongated handle 11, e.g. by mounting the wet shaving head 15 onto a guided spring that allows for a vertical floating motion of the wet shaving head 15 under application of a force. Further, the outer side 13 of the elongated handle 11 that is intended to be gripped by a user's hand during operation is visible. The outer side 13 has an outer surface 13 a and has a texture 13 b, that in the shown case is realized as a perforation of a part of the outer surface 13 a. The texture 13 b enhances the grip of the elongated handle 11, specifically when used in a wet environment, e.g. under the shower. Instead of perforations, the texture could be realized as depressions or elevations (e.g. rips, burls etc.). The enhancement of the grip, specifically in a wet environment, is optimal if the texture has a macroscopic size, i.e. when at least a lateral dimension of the texture elements has a minimal value such as 0.5 mm or 1 mm or 2 mm or 5 mm.

The elongated handle 11 further has an opening 18 that is shaped so as to form-fit around a projecting part of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. Such a form-fit connector element enhances the fixed connection between the elongated handle 11 and the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. In general, the elongated handle 11 could comprise a connector structure that mates with a connector structure realized at the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device, e.g. the elongated handle 11 could comprise elastic, mush-room-like projections and the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device could comprise undercut cavities that receive the mush-room-like projections in a releasable snap-fit manner. The connector structure realized at the elongated handle of the wet shaving device (e.g. opening 18) would then form part of the second coupling structure and the connector structure realized at the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device (e.g. the mentioned projecting part of the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device) would then form part of the first coupling structure.

FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional cut through the wet shaving device 10 as depicted in FIGS. 6A and 6B along line A-A as indicated in FIG. 6A. The elongated handle 11 has a relatively thin wall thickness, here in the range of 0.5-3 mm. The inner side 12 of the elongated handle 11 is shaped to accommodate the elongated handle of the electrical hair removal device. Flexed parts 11 b and 11 c are bent inwards to partially embrace the hollow space defined by the inner side 12 of the elongated handle 11. The clamp structure and the release button of the release mechanism 14 are visible.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a combined hair removal device 1′ where the wet shaving device 10 as shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 7 is clamped around an electrical hair removal device 20, which in the shown embodiment is realized as an epilator device. The electrical hair removal device 20 has an elongated handle 21 that is intended to be gripped by a user's hand when the wet shaving device 10 is detached. The electrical hair removal device 20 further has an electrical hair removal head 22 that is intended to get in contact with a user's skin to remove hairs, which electrical hair removal head 22 is realized as an epilator head. The elongated handle 11 of the wet shaving device 10 is clamped around the electrical hair removal device 20 in such a way that the electrical hair removal head 22 of the electrical hair removal device 20 remains uncovered by the elongated handle 11. The elongated handles of the electrical hair removal device 20 and the wet shaving device 10 form together an integrated handle 101 of the combined hair removal device 1′. The wet shaving head 15 of the wet shaving device 10 is arranged in such a way that the razor blade 17 lies behind the electrical hair removal head 22 with respect to a use direction B defined by the cutting edge of the razor blade as the blade 17 will only cut hairs when drawn over the skin along the use direction B. Hence, the combined hair removal device 1′ as shown will completely remove hairs in a single stroke. Firstly, hairs growing on the skin are plucked out by the electrical hair removal head 22 of the electrical hair removal device 20 realized as an epilator head and secondly the remaining hairs that were not plucked out are cut off by the wet shaving head 15 of the wet shaving device 10 that is realized as a safety razor head. Since the flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c partially embrace a hollow space formed by the inner side 12 of the elongated handle 11 that is slightly smaller than the elongated handle 21 of the electrical hair removal device 20, the flexed parts 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c are pre-stressed against the elongated handle 21 of the electrical hair removal device 20 and thus the elongated handle 11 of the wet shaving device 10 is fixed to the elongated handle 21 of the electrical hair removal device 20.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.” 

1. Combined hair removal device comprising: an electrical hair removal device having at least a first coupling structure: a wet shaving device having at least a second coupling structure, the first and second coupling structures being configured to mate with each other to detachably couple the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device in at least a first coupling position; the electrical hair removal device having an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the electrical hair removal device in a detached state; and the wet shaving device having an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the wet shaving device in a detached state; and the wet shaving device comprises wet shaving head that has at least a blade having a sharp, elongated edge arranged for contacting the skin during a shaving operation so as to cut off hairs growing on the skin.
 2. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device is realized as an electrical shaving device that comprises a trimmer head having a first toothed blade and a second toothed blade, at least one of the first and second toothed blades being arranged to be driven in an operation mode so as to cut off hairs that feed in between the teeth of the first and second toothed blades.
 3. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device is realized as an electrical shaving device that comprises a shaver head having a sheer foil structure arranged to contact the skin and a blade structure that is arranged to be movable relative to the sheer foil in an operation mode so that hairs that feed in between holes of the sheer foil are cut off or shorn off.
 4. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device is realized as an epilator device that comprises an epilator head having a plurality of pairs of clamping elements that are each arranged so that they can be actuated between an open position in which hairs can feed into a gap between the clamping elements and a closed position in which hairs are clamped between the clamping elements.
 5. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device are detachably coupled together so that the elongated handles extend longitudinally side by side over a substantial part of their length.
 6. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the elongated handle of one of the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device has a longitudinally extending recess in which at least a part of the elongated handle of the other of the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device is located.
 7. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second coupling structures has two or more coupling elements to allow coupling the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device in at least the first coupling position and a second coupling position.
 8. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein one of the first or second coupling structures comprises a movable element for selectively moving the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device relatively to each other.
 9. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first or second coupling structures comprises a release element provided for releasing the mated first and second coupling structures.
 10. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1 having a contact arrangement for transferring electrical enemy between the electrical hair removal device and the wet shaving device.
 11. Combined shaving device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device has a powered vibration motor and a mechanical coupling arranged to transmit vibrations generated by the vibration motor to the wet shaving head of the wet shaving device.
 12. Combined hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical hair removal device comprises an exchangeable electrical hair removal head.
 13. Electrical hair removal device comprising: an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the electrical hair removal device and at least a first coupling structure arranged to detachably couple the electrical hair removal device to at least a second coupling structure of a wet shaving device that has an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the wet shaving device.
 14. Wet shaving device comprising: an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the wet shaving device and at least a second coupling structure arranged for detachably coupling the wet shaving device to at least a first coupling structure of an electrical hair removal device that has an elongated handle provided for individual operation of the electrical shaving device. 